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Rating: 3 out of 5
Many love affairs are forbidden and should be avoided. If a love affair has someone far younger than the other, it might be a good idea to stop it. On another topic, based on the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the global literacy rate for all people aged 15 and above is 86.3%. Yet, there are still people in this world who is illiterate. You might be wondering why I brought up a love affair and literacy. Well, the Reader is a film where a relationship between two people begins only for one to find out the other is illiterate and on trial.
The Reader is directed by Stephen Daldry and written by David Hare, based on the 1995 German novel of the same name by Bernhard Schlink. The film starts off in post-war Germany with Middle-aged German barrister Michael Berg (Fiennes) thinking back on his life when he was younger and his relationship with Hanna Schmitz (Winslet). When Michael (Kross) was a young lad at fifteen years old in 1958, he was helped by Hanna, who was twice his age. After recovering from Scarlet Fever, Michael goes to thank Hanna. The two begin a summer-long, highly sexual love affair. Hanna sets the rules that Michael must read to her first before making love. Hanna soon mysteriously disappears, leaving Michael heartbroken. Eight years pass as Michael is now a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials. He soon is stunned to see Hanna on trial.
First off, let’s give credit where credit is due, and that is to the beautiful, wonderful, and very talented Kate Winslet. Winslet gives a strong and superb performance as Hanna Schmitz. Let me be real and say that Winslet has a beautiful body. Straight up sexy, and to show it off, you go gurl. Now for her actual performance, she was intense in some moments and emotional in others. Hanna is a passionate person and a pedophile as she had an affair with a young boy. Winslet made sure to show Hanna’s sexual side but also the mystery of her character. You didn’t know why she had someone read to her until the end. Winslet came on so string during the court case as she showed Hanna as a confused person who was doing her job but a little heartless in the end.
Now for the story. Oh, do I have some opinions about the story. First off, the story is split up into three different sections of Michael’s life and how Hanna influences it. The first part deals when Michael is only 15 years old, and after a bout of scarlet fever, Hanna seduces him and begins an affair with him. They seem to spend every minute together having sex and then Michael reading to her. Straight up, and it might be a little offensive, but Hanna called upon her inner R. Kelly and played some Bump & Grind. Now, most men would think, congrats dude, you bangin’ a fine ass woman. When you look at it, dude is only 15, and that’s how you go to jail. Don’t know how they do it in Germany, but it’s pretty uncomfortable. If it was the other way around, the man would get crucified because it’s just nasty. This part ends when Hanna is promoted to a clerical job at the tram company’s office. From there, the girl just bounces without telling anyone.
Now the second part shows what Hanna was up to along with how Michael has been doing. Michael is at Heidelberg University Law School and seems to have moved on with his life as 10 years have passed. He has a cute ass honey in his class who is straight-up interested in him. As part of the one class he is taking, the class observes a trial of several former SS guards accused of letting 300 Jewish women burn to death in a church fire. Everything seems fine when Hanna is one of the defendants. You hear what was going on when she left, and it’s harrowing. Yet, you don’t know if Hanna is straight-up naïve or what. She told them she chose 10 women to get gassed when asked about it. When pressed, she said they kept coming and what would they do. You also see the effect it has on Michael. Dude is straight-up heartbroken and doesn’t know what to do. When he realizes Hanna’s secret, he could save her, but she also did a horrible thing. His life somewhat unravels as he has that lovely little honey, and he shuns her. Hanna is given life in prison, but I was surprised when she didn’t get the death penalty.
Part three is when Michael is older as an adult as 22-years have passed. You really don’t know how to feel about this part. You know Hanna did some terrible things, and she seems heartless, but Michael decides to write to her and record books by reading to her. She learns how to read and write by listening to the tapes and following along with one of the books. She manages to write letters. You want to be proud of that moment, but you remember how she would let people read to her, and they think they were safe, only for her to send them to her death. You believe that she learned from her past, but she straight up says, “It doesn’t matter what I feel, and it doesn’t matter what I think. The dead are still dead.” Also, why was Michael so obsessed after 20+ years. She must’ve put a spell on him.
The movie is beautifully done, and props needed to be given to Stephen Daldry. The feeling of the film just felt off. It felt like a tragic love story, and you listen to the court case and were expecting more. It didn’t seem like a “Holocaust” film. You pay more attention to what is going on with others. The major focus is it wasn’t until the end when the woman tells her story of how she will never forgive Hanna. She should never do it. I’m surprised she kept the tea tin.
The Reader is held together by a strong and brilliant performance by Kate Winslet. For the actual three-part story, it will make you uncomfortable in the beginning as an affair happens with one person being 15 and the other in their mid-thirties. Their love affair changes years later when one reappears for war crimes. Your emotions might be all over the place. Get ready for some sex and nudity.
